Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.
Lead Philippines: Can't believe this is still happening in the country. If the government does nothing, I won't be...
Keith Bacongco: who could we forget Alecks here in Mindanao... aside from PCIJ trainings, he also helped us a lot...

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hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Increase of dengue cases comes in cycles

Posted by: Isa Lorenzo | September 20, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Filed under: In the News, Public Health

THE good news is that the 15,635 dengue cases recorded from January 1 to September 13 of this year have decreased by 40.7 percent compared to the same period last year.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re doing a better job when it comes to fighting dengue, according to Dr. Eric Tayag, director of the National Epidemiology Center (NEC).

In the Philippines, dengue occurs in a two to three year cycle, meaning that the incidence of dengue cases peaks according to this interval.

The last peak occurred during 2005, thus following the cycle, this year’s number of dengue cases should be half of last year’s figure, says Tayag. (see the cycle here)

Thirty-three thousand cases of dengue were recorded last year, but more than 15,000 cases have already been tallied this year.

“Ang hirap ng sustainability ng dengue control measures, lalo na nakasalalay siya sa (It’s hard to sustain dengue control measures, especially when it depends on) source reduction, o elimination ng mosquito breeding sites,” says Tayag.

“The behavior of looking for mosquito breeding sites and destroying them should become a habit,” he adds, yet this takes a long time because people forget what they have to do.

Relatives and acquaintances of dengue victims and residents of areas where dengue cases have been reported actively search for and destroy mosquito breeding sites. Yet those who live in areas where no dengue has been reported do nothing, according to Tayag.

The NEC has come up with four simple steps, known as the 4 S’s, for preventing dengue:

Search and destroy all mosquito breeding sites, wherever clean, stagnant water may accumulate. This includes artificial containers such as old tires and drums.

Self-protection: wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved blouses and pants, use insect repellent on exposed areas.

Seek early consultation. Symptoms include high fever, cough, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Dengue is difficult to diagnose because many of its symptoms are common ailments.

Say no to indiscriminate fogging. Fogging eliminates adult mosquitoes, but not their eggs or larvae. Thus fogging should only be done in places where there are epidemics, where large populations of adult mosquitoes have been proven to exist.

Thailand is working on a dengue vaccine, but it will not be available commercially for at least five years.

NEC data shows that dengue cases peak during August, when rain provides more breeding grounds for mosquitoes. This year’s hotspots include the province of Rizal, as well as the barangays of Batasan Hills, Payatas and Tatalon in Quezon City. The National Capital Region is among the top three regions with the highest number of recorded dengue cases this year. One of the reasons could be the proliferation of construction sites, which provide many places for stagnant water to collect in.

However, official reports of dengue cases have been perceived to be inaccurate, according to a 2003 study for the International Vaccine Institute led by Denise de Roeck. The study focused on the views of policymakers on dengue fever in four Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines. Under-reporting and over-reporting were believed to occur, due to the lack of laboratory confirmation and the difficulty in diagnosing dengue.

There was also a lack of distinction between dengue and dengue hemmorhagic fever (DHF) cases. In once instance, the re-examination of suspected DHF patients Cagayan revealed that only 10 percent actually had DHF.

Policymakers may debate on the veracity of official figures, yet dengue remains the most important tropical infectious disease after malaria, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first dengue outbreak in the Philippines occurred in 1954, and since then, according to a 1998 report by M. N. Chua and F. Galsim-Hernandez, there have been epidemics almost every year.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 20th, 2006 and is filed under In the News, Public Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Thailand’s Mahidol University is doing vaccine research and so are we. Dr. Ma. Rosario Capeding of our Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Alabang leads the Dengue Research Program.

ChimeriVax-Dengue is being developed and being tried worldwide. This site discussed About Dengue fever and About ChimeriVax-Dengue…

Sometimes called “breakbone fever” because of the pain associated with the disease, dengue fever is a flu-like illness characterised by high fever, severe headaches, joint and muscle pain, nausea and vomiting. As the fever progresses, a rash develops on the arms and legs, and may be associated with itching or peeling of the skin. The duration of the illness is, on average, 10 days but full recovery can take up to four weeks. A potentially fatal complication is dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). This is a more severe form of the disease and is recognised when the patient’s condition deteriorates after the first few days of the fever. Haemorrhagic manifestations occur such as bruising easily, bleeding from the nose or gums and internal haemorrhaging. This can led to circulatory failure, shock and, in some cases, death.

So, the milder Dengue Fever may complicate into the life-threatening Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever…that is where the distinction lie. Both conditions are one and the same as to their cause (and that is dengue virus harbored by day-biting mosquitoes).

What is difficult to assess are the probably numerous dengue cases not being reported as such due to their mild or non-alarming presentation. Because the illness is just like any ordinary viral illness wherein it comes and it goes, owing to its self-limited behavior, some (or a lot of) Dengue Fever cases may not really be included in the count. The bad thing about it is that first-time dengue cases may have mild condition but persons who have been bitten (dengue-laden mosquito bites) more than once may have bloody consequences.

There are four different dengue virus serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4) and while infection with one dengue serotype provides long-term immunity to that particular serotype, it provides only partial and transient protection against subsequent infection by the other three. More importantly, the WHO reports there is evidence that infection with a second serotype increases the risk of more serious disease resulting in dengue haemorrhagic fever.

So, maaaring mas kawawa pala ang mga na-dengue na dati…

Let’s hope and pray that the vaccine will come out in the near future because as it is NEC’s 4 S’s aren’t winning this year’s battle against dengue…might not an additional S should be included? Particularly for the DOH personnel to have common Sense of NOT downplaying the epidemic that is currently happening.

baycas wrote on September 23, 2006 - 3:44 am | Visit Link

[...] THE loss of billions of pesos due to dengue could be halved by simply confirming an initial diagnosis. [...]

INSIDE PCIJ » The burden of dengue wrote on September 26, 2006 - 5:41 pm | Visit Link

[...] Inside PCIJ reports about the four simple steps devised by the government to fight dengue. A dengue vaccine is also being developed in Thailand, but the public has to wait another five years. The unreliability of official dengue data was also underscored: “Official reports of dengue cases have been perceived to be inaccurate, according to a 2003 study for the International Vaccine Institute led by Denise de Roeck. The study focused on the views of policymakers on dengue fever in four Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines. Under-reporting and over-reporting were believed to occur, due to the lack of laboratory confirmation and the difficulty in diagnosing dengue.” [...]

Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Philippines: Dengue outbreak in some provinces wrote on October 3, 2006 - 11:53 pm | Visit Link